Did Fox News contribute to or reimburse any settlements for Bill O'Reilly between 2002 and 2017?

1. What the contemporaneous investigations found about payments

A New York Times investigation published in April 2017 reported that five women had received settlements totaling about $13 million in exchange for dropping or not pursuing allegations against Bill O’Reilly, and that the payouts involved both O’Reilly and his employer (Fox/21st Century Fox), with the network implicated in at least some of the sums ^{[3] [2]}. Reuters summarized that reporting by saying “O’Reilly and his employer have made payouts totaling about $13 million” to settle claims of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior dating to 2002 ^[1].

2. Which settlements were paid by whom — the public record and limits

The public record is uneven: reporting identifies specific settlements and amounts in some cases — Andrea Mackris’s 2004 settlement was reported as about $9 million paid to settle her suit ^{[3] [1]}, and a 2002 settlement to producer Rachel Witlieb Bernstein was later reported as roughly $106,466 ^[7] — but coverage makes clear that not every payout’s funding source is fully disclosed in public documents, and the Times framed the $13 million as having been paid by a combination of O’Reilly and his employer rather than exclusively by one or the other ^{[3] [1] [2]}. Reporting repeatedly notes that the details of many agreements were confidential and only partially visible through investigative reporting and later court-unsealing ^{[7] [3]}.

3. The big 2017 Lis Wiehl report and Fox’s involvement

Late-2017 reporting revealed what was described as an additional $32 million settlement between O’Reilly and former Fox analyst Lis Wiehl reached in January 2017; multiple outlets said that payment was made by O’Reilly personally, and that 21st Century Fox executives knew about the deal when they renewed his contract in February 2017 ^{[4] [5] [6]}. Articles emphasized the contrast between the network’s actions — renewing and later severing ties — and the private settlements, while noting that the Wiehl payout was characterized by news organizations as separate from the earlier $13 million in combination payments ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Reading the evidence: did Fox contribute or reimburse O’Reilly between 2002–2017?

The available contemporaneous reporting answers the central question with nuance rather than a simple yes/no: investigations found that between 2002 and April 2017, payouts of roughly $13 million were made to five women and that those sums were borne by both O’Reilly and his employer, meaning Fox/21st Century Fox did contribute to or reimburse at least some settlements during that period ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Separately, a much larger $32 million settlement reported in late 2017 was described as a personal payment by O’Reilly, although the network was aware of it when negotiating his contract ^{[4] [5] [6]}. Public reporting and court filings leave open precise accounting of which settlements or line items Fox directly paid versus which O’Reilly paid himself, because many agreements were confidential until partially unsealed and reporting relied on people familiar with the documents ^{[7] [3]}.

5. Alternative framings and hidden incentives in the record

Sources and outlets differ in emphasis: some coverage foregrounds Fox’s role in facilitating nondisclosure and absorbing legal exposure ^[2], while other pieces stress O’Reilly’s personal payments and motivations for silence ^{[4] [7]}. Hidden incentives are evident in the incentives to keep settlements confidential and to negotiate NDAs — as reporting notes, many agreements prohibited accusers from speaking and were only later unsealed or reported, which complicates public accounting of who paid what and why ^{[7] [3]}.